Hanging by a Moment
by Shibarania
Summary: Naruto falls into a coma, everything he ever knew and possibly loved changes around him. When he comes back into the world of the concious, will he be able to adjust?
1. I

I hate my life.   
  
Who am I, you ask? Naruto Uzumaki. I am a 12 year old boy, living in the Hidden Leaf Village, and currently learning the ways of the ninja. However, I am no ordinary 12 year old, you see.   
  
Within me lies a beast of immeasurable terrors.   
  
And thus, I am shunned, I am hated, I am feared as if I were the beast itself.   
  
I hate my life.   
  
I glanced wearily out my window, at the stars. Stars were such wonderful things. Free and loved. I wish I could be like that. Maybe one day, when I die, I'll become a star, then I'll be loved. I'll be looked upon with smiles rather than frowns and disapproving glances.   
  
"I need to take a walk," I said to no one in particular.   
  
I stood up, unlatching my locked window, not even bothering to change from my pajamas. I stared down at the ground a moment, halfway out the window as a shiver passed up and down my spine. I had the disturbing feeling that someone was watching me.   
  
I remained motionless for a few more seconds, only my eyes moved. Shrugging, I leapt from the window, landing gracefully below on the grass. I let my legs do the walking, my mind elsewhere.   
  
Minutes, hours, I don't know how long I walked. But eventually I ended up at a cliff edge.   
  
I walked to the edge of the cliff, staring downwards. My bare toes just barely poked off the edge of the ground. The abyss that lay before me seemed to never end. I began to think how horribly painful it would be to fall down there. "Suicide is a sin." I said to myself for no apparent reason. Was. . .was I thinking about suicide? It's not as if anyone would miss me. My toes curled briefly. I **was** thinking about suicide. I glanced briefly over the edge again, leaning forward slightly.   
  
A loose pebble skittered from under my feet, alerting me that leaning was not the best of ideas.   
  
"What the hell are you doing, dobe? Trying to get killed?"   
  
For a moment it seemed I had only imagined these words. But I knew they were real, and their speaker was currently behind me. I knew who it was, and I knew they had followed me. It came to me in a rush of information the moment those dry, humorless words reached my ears.   
  
I twirled around, an angry glint in my eyes. "Sasuk-"   
  
One must know that one cannot and should not spin quickly around whilst standing on a cliff edge. I learned this lesson the hard way as I lost my footing and felt my feet leave the ground. I had only a few seconds to see Sasuke Uchiha, my rival, stare in shock before my view was obscured by the side of the cliff.   
  
The wind was whipping around me as if I was falling through silk. My pajamas were flapping madly. The night air was so cold at this speed that it nearly hurt. But. . .I was happy; I was smiling. This was it. . .I belonged here. Falling. . .dying.   
  
Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, as my hand dragged down the rock, I felt my fingers close quickly around the tiniest of niches. It was a reflex. I hung there for a moment, my body swaying ever so slightly from the momentum, regretting ever grabbing the tiny ledge.   
  
Sasuke's dark head appeared over the edge, silhouetted against the moon and stars.   
  
"You moron! What the hell were you thinking?!" He shouted. He was obviously furious; I felt a fleck of spittle hit my face.   
  
I stared defiantly up at his raging face, my eyebrows drawn together rebelliously. Sighing, he stuck his hand down within reachable distance. "Moron." He muttered. I stared at his hand.   
  
"Do you want to dangle there all night, dobe?! Take my hand!" His voice was full of venom and loathing as though he would regret our skin meeting for even an instant. I drew my gaze from his hand to his pale face.   
  
"No."   
  
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He was so taken aback he even forgot to insult me when he spoke. "Naruto? What are you talking ab-"   
  
"No, Sasuke. I am not taking your hand." I repeated firmly. He merely stared. "I do not belong in this world. I do not belong anywhere. If I take your hand I am sure I will regret it soon." I gave a cruel laugh.   
  
When I got no response from Sasuke, I looked back at him. His eyes were half-lidded, lazy you might call it, and he was smirking. I was immediately confused.   
  
"If you're going for sympathy, dead-last, you're not getting it from me."   
  
A fury I had never known before bubbled up within me. Here I was, hanging from a cliff, certain death below me, and Sasuke **still** has it in him to call me names!   
  
"Dammit, Uchiha, why are you such a cold-hearted bastard?!" I spat suddenly, baring my teeth like the fox demon within me. He smirked again.   
  
Just take my hand before I leave you here." Sasuke droned. I glared loathe fully at him.   
  
I took his hand, I would be pulling myself back into this living hell. I would be scolded, scalded, hated. I did not want that.   
  
"No, Sasuke." I loosened my grip slightly, my white-knuckle grip becoming a peach-knuckle grip.   
  
His raven brown lowered and his smirk disappeared. Sasuke had not expected that from me.   
  
"Idiot! Don't! You'll die!" He looked angry at me. Then again, when was Sasuke not angry with me?   
  
Why did he even care?   
  
"I know, Sasuke." I caught a look of startlement flash over his face, as if he were shocked to know that I actually **knew** something. My fingers became looser and I felt myself slip slightly.   
  
"What. . .?" He trailed off, staring at me. I noticed that the hand Sasuke had outstretched to me was now limp.   
  
I looked into his eyes, forcing him to lock gazes with me. I searched for anything in those eyes of his. A reason to stay, to live. I did not know why.   
  
"Goodbye, Sasuke." I whispered, never moving my gaze from his. I let go of the ledge completely. The bitter wind stung at me and numbed me. I saw Sasuke's form, still crouched over the ledge, shouting something, growing ever smaller. I felt tears flooding my eyes. Tears of joy that I could finally leave.   
  
And then I hit the ground.   
  
~*~   
  
_**Author Note: What a beautiful place to end the story. But. . .no. I'll keep going, for your sake. *Smiles kindly* **_   
  
~*~   
  
_Run, run, he must run. Breathing sharp, painful. Legs aching, muscles screaming, lungs burning. He must run, escape.   
  
Legs could hold out no more. Breathing ragged, falling. Screaming, crying. It comes, it comes, fangs dripping, bloodied. Breath rancid, jaws tearing, flesh ripping.   
  
Pain, blood, regret. Screams his last scream, breathes his last breath. Incoherent words escaping, trailing, dying.   
  
Putrid lifeless corpse is thrown, thrown at the onlooker. Corpse head lolling, pouring blood.   
  
Naruto stared at Sasuke's dead body, tears blinding his eyes. The fox demon, maw covered in Uchiha blood, laughed. _   
  
"**NO!**"   
  
I sat up quickly, shrieking this word. Or, at least, I _tried_ to sit up quickly. My arms and legs were heavy as lead. My heart fluttered wildly behind my ribs, like a caged bird. My breathing came in sharp stinging gasps. It surprised me that it hurt so much to inhale. Like someone pouring salt on an open wound.   
  
With **extreme** effort, I swallowed. My throat seemed dry as a barren desert. A foul taste hovered in my mouth. I recognized it as the taste of bile. Energy flooded into me as I sat up quickly, leaning over the edge of my bed to vomit violently.   
  
It was then I realized that this was not my bed.   
  
The smell of the half-digested contents of my stomach stung at my nostrils, but I ignored it as my energy decided to leave me again. I flopped back on the foreign bed. Where was I? Was I in Heaven or something?   
  
I stared up at the blindingly white tiles of the ceiling. It just didn't seem like this would be Heaven. Maybe I didn't even make it to Heaven.   
  
I blanched mentally, seeing as I couldn't do it physically, at the thought of being condemned to hell.   
  
Well, it would make sense.   
  
I heaved a burning sigh, inhaling once again my regurgitated food, and, with effort that I had never known to possess, turned my head to the side.   
  
Wearily I watched the fat snowflakes sliding lazily through the air. Something just. . .didn't seem right. I wondered vaguely if anyone missed me. _Fat chance_, I thought bitterly, watching one snowflake drift downwards slowly.   
  
Wait. . .if I was in hell. . .why was it snowing?   
  
My eyebrows creased in confusion as I literally heaved my head back upright. What was going on here. . .?   
  
My baffled musings were cut short as I heard a scream pierce the silence. I would have jumped if I had the energy to. Instead, I settled for widening my eyes tenfold, and gasping in that horrid stink of my retch.   
  
Turning my eyes to peer from the very corner, I squinted. A mane of strawberry pink hair resting on a slightly large forehead, with wide blue eyes was all I could see.   
  
"Sa. . .Sakura. . .?" I questioned. What was _she_ doing in. . .wherever I was?   
  
I heard her shriek again, and she disappeared from sight. I could hear her yelling something excitedly from a distance, the distance being vast enough to slur her words, making them incoherent to me. Many footsteps echoed closer to me, like a herd of horses.   
  
Next thing I knew, two familiar faces were leaning into my restricted view. I took in the faces before me, saying the names in turn.   
  
"Kakashi. . .Iruka. . .?" I recognized them and yet. . .I did not. They were. . .different. They seemed aged, somehow.   
  
I saw Iruka's altered face crease into a grin. His hoarse voice, I don't remember it being hoarse, said, "So it's true! Naruto. . .you're awake. . .you're back, thank God." He grinned and I saw his eyes glisten with unshed tears.   
  
Okay. That's it. I'm supposed to be dead. So what the _hell_ is going on here?!   
  
Before my question could pass my lips, Kakashi's voice interrupted. His voice seemed somewhat. . .hollow.   
  
"My God. . .my God. . .I. . .just _my_ God . . ." He chanted. He sounded surprised.   
  
I attempted to voice my question again as Sakura's head popped into view as well. She seemed so different. The difference with Iruka and Kakashi was only minor, by this change in Sakura was vast. She seemed so. . .mature.   
  
"I threw up." I said lamely, the stench of bile tainting my lungs once again. I sounded like a child, having been caught eating too much candy and expelling it again on mother's carpet.   
  
And yet I sounded **far** from being a child. My voice was nearly an octave deeper than I remembered.   
  
They seemed to not hear me, either that or they ignored me.   
  
I become suddenly aware that my rival was not present. As I opened my mouth to ask of his whereabouts, images of my hideous nightmare flooded my mind. A question did not leave my mouth; what was left in my stomach did.   
  
Iruka hastened to clean me up, I felt helpless, like a child. My head lolled lifelessly towards the window as I watched the snow again.   
  
My brain suddenly began working.   
  
It was obvious I was still alive. Why I did not die, I do not know. However, I remember that it was during the late spring when that "incident" occurred.   
  
If that was so, why was it snowing? Why was my body so heavy? Why was everyone so different? Why did my very bones ache, as if they were too big for my flesh?   
  
"What is going on?" I demanded, in as harsh a tone as I could muster with my foreign, dry voice. All three of the people surrounding me, glanced at me then looked away.   
  
I took a deep breath as Iruka slowly lowered me back onto the bed.   
  
"Why is everything so different? What has happened to you all? What has happened to _me_?" I felt tears stinging at my eyes. I tried to suck them back, but a few managed to drip from the corners of my eyes.   
  
"What is going on. . . ?" I whispered, voice quavering.   
  
No one spoke for the longest time. Then, after what seemed like eons, Kakashi broke the silence.   
  
"Naruto, you. . ." He began. I moved my eyes to look at him expectantly. His only visible eye looked so weary and tired. As he sighed, I nearly regretted asking him the question, guilty for making him any more tired than he seemed.   
  
"Naruto." Kakishi stated. My unfocused eyes focused once again. He looked almost as if he was regretting what he had to say.   
  
"What?" I whispered. My earlier inquiries had taken away the majority of what little energy I possessed. Sorrowfully and ruefully, he looked into my eyes.   
  
"Naruto," he repeated for the third time. "You've been in a coma."   
  
Oh. Was that it? Just a stupid coma? How long could a dumb _coma_ last? There had to be more to it.   
  
"For. . .how long?" I was straining to speak. Surely a _coma_ couldn't have done this to me. . .?   
  
"For the past six years."   
~*~   
  
TBC!   
  
I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes I made. I'm just too lazy to go fix 'em.   
  
You likes? Review!  
  



	2. II

Sorry this chapter took so long. I've had some family issues, along with some computer ones. That, and I'm a slow writer. ^^;; Arigatou, to you all!   
  
~*~  
  
_"Naruto," he repeated for the third time. "You've been in a coma."   
  
Oh. Was that it? Just a stupid coma? How long could a dumb coma last? There had to be more to it.   
  
"For. . .how long?" I was straining to speak. Surely a coma couldn't have done this to me. . .?   
  
"For the past six years." _  
  
~*~  
  
I stared.   
  
I stared because I was awaiting that strange, aged eye to suddenly start glimmering with concealed mirth, and that hidden mouth to suddenly speak to me, shouting how foolish I was to have believed him.   
  
I stared because this was absolutely insane. I just _ couldn't _ have been in a coma for six years. It was just. . .insane!   
  
And, after seeing no sudden outbreak of glee in Kakashi's eye, I not only realized this was insane, but it was also. . .true.   
  
I felt my insides twisting into uncomfortable knots; my stomach was lurching, though I was unsure to how I could still have anything in there.   
  
I looked at them all with pleading eyes. Pleading for them to tell me it was a joke, _pleading _ for them to burst out laughing, _** pleading **_ for them to do _anything_.  
  
**Except** this.  
  
I let my gaze float slowly from the three beings around me to the ceiling. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to _ feel_. I was unsure how to react, how to behave to this new discovery.   
  
_ I need to be left alone. . .go away. . .let me think. . .let me think about. . .hell I don't even know what to think about!_   
  
Inhaling in the least painful way I could muster, I managed to rasp out, "Go away."   
  
It came out a lot harsher than I had initially intended it to. I sensed, rather than saw, both Iruka and Sakura flinch. I heard the drag of feet as three ninja exited the room I now occupied.   
  
_ Six years. . .what am I going to do?_ I thought solemnly. All ability to speak, even if I was only going to speak to myself, had now abandoned me. _ My classmates. . .they are all ninja now. And me? I have the skill level of an ammature shinobi.   
  
Why am I still alive? Why did that jump not kill me?_   
  
I closed my eyes. _That would have killed anyone else.   
  
** You're forgetting the one thing about you that makes you so different, Naruto.** _A voice in my head nagged. _** The burden that you have carried with you since the day of your birth. **_   
  
The fox demon. The. . .fox demon kept me alive! That damned beast kept me alive, just to spite me!   
  
I felt fury explode inside of me, spreading quickly throughout my being. _ The one thing that I hate the most and that ruined my life is the one to save my life, when I don't even want to be saved!_  
  
Angry tears leaked from my eyes. "Dammit. . ." I whispered, voice shaking.   
  
My mind pulsed silently as thoughts rushed through my head. I felt my eyelids getting heavier.   
  
_ Eh. . .all this thinking has made me tired. . ._ I let my lids slide close, and soon I was lost in the world of the unconscious again.   
  
~*~  
  
_**It comes, it comes, fangs dripping, bloodied. Breath rancid, jaws tearing, flesh ripping.   
  
Pain, blood, regret. Screams his last scream, breathes his last breath. Incoherent words escaping, trailing, dying. **_  
  
I jolted awake, my heart doing an almost perfect imitation of a trapped rabbit. I would have thrown up again if anything has been in my stomach.   
  
A shudder ran up and down my spine as my heart slowly but surely returned to it's normal pace.   
  
Curiosity took over my shock and fear as I thought, _ why am I dreaming about this? Why Sasuke? Hey. . .where ** is ** Sasuke, anyhow? _   
  
I didn't waste much time on my ponderings. I glanced at the window. It seemed as if I had only blinked, but it was night already.   
  
_ What am I going to do. . .?_   
  
~*~  
  
I don't know when it was, but at some point I had fallen asleep, only to be prodded awake by someone, well. . .prodding me.   
  
I let out a sleepy grunt, and cracked one eye to peer at my awakener.   
  
Sakura peered down at me. She smiled broadly and said, "Oh, you're awake. I got a little worried that you'd fallen back into the coma, Naruto-kun."   
  
Naruto-kun? When did it become Naruto-kun? Last time I checked, it was _ idiot _ not _ Naruto-kun _   
  
She smiled again at me and brought a bowl out from somewhere out of my range of sight. Seeing the bowl of food suddenly caused me to realize I was furiously hungry, and to add emphasis, my stomach let out a starved growl.   
  
I tried to lift my arms, only to find that they would not budge. How was I going to eat if I couldn't move my arms?   
  
As if hearing my thoughts, Sakura said brightly, "I'm going to feed you."   
  
Whatever dignity I had left was stripped violently away from me once I heard her words. I should have been pouring joy that Sakura, the girl I had oh-so-adoringly drooled over for the majority of my childhood, was going to feed me.   
  
And for some reason, I wasn't pouring joy.   
  
As she carefully spooned the rice into my mouth, I had come to hate her touch, her smile, her looks. I did not know why. She was, indeed, an absolutely beautiful young woman, with gorgeous eyes, luscious curves, and perfect lips, but I just couldn't bring myself to return to my childhood crush.   
  
"Where. . .is Sasuke?" I asked wearily, though I didn't feel in the least bit tired.   
  
Sakura jumped when she heard me speak, then looked stiffly at me. She was hiding something.   
  
"Eh. . .Sasuke-kun is. . .he is. . .not here right now. . ." she stuttered, blanching away from my gaze.   
  
"Where. . .?" Dammit, I hate having to tap into my chi, which is weak already, to just _ talk _!   
  
Sakura's eyes twitched from die to side, as if she was looking for a way to escape.  
  
And then I wondered vaguely. . .why was I questioning about Sasuke?  
  
Just when I thought Sakura was about to explode, Kakashi entered the room. Immedeatly Sakura jumped up and scuttled from the room, winking at me. I mentally blanched.   
  
Kakashi sat down where Sakura had. And then, he did something that completely blew my mind.   
  
He lifted me, wedding-style, from my bed.  
  
((A/N: No, this is *NOT* a KakaNaru.))   
  
"W-What are you doing?" I demanded. I tried to sound harsh, but it really came out a tad dreamy and out-of-touch.  
  
Kakashi looked at me calmly. "Well, you've been lying there for six years, Naruto. You can either lay in that bed for _another_ six years, or you can let me help you."   
  
"Help. . .?"  
  
He looked at me, his single visible eye sparkling in amusement. "You never were a bright one, kiddo." Before I could object, however, he continued, "I'm going to teach you how to walk again."   
  
Kind of ironic, that my old sensei was the one that would teach me how to walk again.  
  
"I figured since you'd eaten you'd have a little more energy." Apparently he'd been walking while he was talking, and we were now in another room.  
  
This room was much bigger than the last one. It was, to my dismay, white. Random objects were scattered over the floor: a ball the size of a chair, some elastic bands, some metal device, and a good few other things.  
  
((A/N: * Perverted author is trying desperately not to think of how dirty that sounded*  
Shibby: Baka hentai!  
Author: Shaddap!))  
  
Kakashi plopped me in a chair I had failed to notice (it was white), and walked over to a pantry I had failed to notice (you guessed it, white).  
  
My head drooped forward as I sat there, planning on saving my energy. It was then, for the first time, I noticed that I was where what appeared to be a white dress.   
  
"Kakashi sensei, what the hell am I wearing?!" Now **this** came out harsh and loud. Surprised, he looked at me, diverting his attention from the pantry.  
  
"It's just a hospital gown, Naruto. Don't overreact." He said calmly.  
  
"There is _no_ way in _hell_ I'm wearing a _gown_!" I wondered vaguely where I got all this energy from.  
  
"Prance around naked, for all I care. It's either the gown or nothing at all." I scowled, which, seeing as my head was still sunk against my chest, was a completely wasted gesture, but said no more.  
  
~*~  
  
The 'workout', or 'physical therapy' as Kakashi calls it, was absolutely exhausting.  
  
I lay staring at the ceiling above me. I wasn't supposed to got to sleep. Not yet, at least. Kakashi told me to stay awake long enough to eat my lunch, and that Iruka would be here soon with my food. A memory tugged at the back of my mind.  
  
_ "Close your eyes, Naruto."  
The young boy did so, sealing his eyelids shut. After a moment's pause, Iruka spoke up again.   
"Alright. You can open your eyes now."  
He did so and saw, to his amazement, that Iruka lacked his headband.  
"Congrats, graduate."_   
  
A light smile tugged at the corner of my mouth at the memory of my graduation day, if you want to call it that.   
  
"Naruto?" The same, fatherly voice from my memories broke the silence. I cast my eyes to the side to see the same, fatherly figure standing in the door way with the same, fatherly expression on his face.   
  
"'Lo, Iruka-sensei." I called out, feigning an energetic voice (which was rather difficult, mind you).  
  
He merely smiled at me with the same, fatherly smile as he set the bowl of rice on the nightstand.  
  
I didn't talk much, I merely ate. Iruka, however, was blabbing a mile a minute. When I asked why he was talking so much, he told me it was 'occupational therapy'.  
  
He continued to tell me of the occurances of the world I once knew, until the bowl of rice was empty. I was rather disappointed when he stood up to leave.   
  
And then it hit me. Iruka hadn't said a single thing about Hokage.  
  
With renewed vigor, I called out, "Iruka-sensei? What about Hokage?" My voice betrayed the pure curiosity behind my question.  
  
For a moment I thought he was ignoring me. But, just as I opened my mouth again, he let out a sigh.  
  
"I think it's best I don't tell you, Naruto."  
  
"Eh?" I arched my brow, pushing myself upright. "What do you mean?"  
  
Again, it looked like he was ignoring me. I felt a twinge of irritation at his antics, before he turned and smiled at me.   
  
It was a smile that was faked, put up as a rampart so as not to betray what one is truly feeling. I knew of experience. He was happy, Lord only knew what Iruka was feeling.  
  
But one thing's for sure. He didn't want me to find out.   
  
"Go to sleep Naruto. I'll wake you for your dinner." Iruka's voice also bore that false cheeriness. It annoyed me to no end.  
  
Before I could inquire him again, Iruka had left the room. With a huff, I realized I had no choice other than to sleep. I sunk back down to the pillow, glaring at the white interior surrounding me. The white soon turned to black as I felt my eyelids sliding shut, against my will.  
  
~*~  
  
I awoke, trembling violently and gasping. The nightmare was becoming a plague to my mind. With an involuntary whimper, I realized I was going to throw up again.  
  
I dragged myself upright (it always seemed I had energy when I needed to hurl), surprised to see a garbage can next to the bed, yet grateful all the same.  
  
Once I was through retching, I flopped back down on the bed, wiping my mouth weakly on my sheets. _ Screw hygene. . ._ I thought grumpily.  
  
I merely lay there for about half an hour before Iruka entered the room. I saw his face briefly scrunch in disgust.   
  
"Threw up." I informed him lamely, not exactly in the mood to eat anymore.  
  
He nodded solemnly, setting my food (rice) on the nightstand and removing the offending garbage can from the room. He returned shortly after, sitting and picking up the rice once more.  
  
"I'm not hungry." I told him.  
  
"You have to eat, Naruto, whether you like it or not." He said sternly. I grunted, not impressed.  
  
Iruka sighed, before saying again, his tone a little lighter, "Come on, please?" He smiled; not that fake smile, but an honest to goodness grin.  
  
"Fine." I grunted again, a pout stealing across my lips.  
  
Iruka was actually rather quite this time, as was I. That is until he stood to leave.  
  
"What about Hokage?" I brought up the subject once again, hoping this time he'd answer me.  
  
Instead, all I got was the same fake smile, along with the cheerfully fake words, "Go to sleep, Naruto. Sakura will be in tomorrow morning with your breakfast."  
  
"But. . .I'm not tired!" I objected. My protest fell on deaf ears; he was already gone.  
  
I stuck my tongue out at the doorway. "Old fart," I grunted, lying back down. My new insult only reminded me of Hokage.  
  
_ Where is he?_ And then I remembered that, not only was the old man missing from the picture, but so was Sasuke. I had forgotten all about _him_.  
  
I sighed. "This sucks."  
  
~*~  
  
I think this chapter was a little lest angsty, don't you? But don't worry. Angst will be in the next chapter (hopefully)!  
  
TBC  
  
Review! 


	3. Author Note

Ugh, I've kind of. . .lost motivation for this story. That's really all I can say. At some later point, I may continue it, but right now, don't expect any updates.  
  
Sorry, everyone.  
  
-Shibby 


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